


In Exchange

by Witch0fthe_Wiiilds



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: AU where Tommy Whispers didn't die at the switchboard, Adult Content, Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout), Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, I'm still learning how tags work, My First Fanfic, Please be gentle, Prydwen, Rating for later chapter, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, and is an asshole, only slightly AU, railroad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-12-18 11:33:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18249005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witch0fthe_Wiiilds/pseuds/Witch0fthe_Wiiilds
Summary: It's garden-variety, Post-Apocalyptic Boston where Nora finds herself 200 years in the future, husband dead and baby kidnapped. She teams up with The Railroad under the code name 'Charmer' to find her baby and the institute, but when a friend and fellow agent turns up missing on a recon mission aboard the Prydwen Nora jumps to the rescue only to find herself bartering her freedom away to the Brotherhood in exchange for her teammate. Will Nora be able to escape back to the railroad, or will she find an unlikely new ally to help bring down the institute?





	1. Workplace Harassment

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my first fic, so please be gentle!  
> I'm also the only one editing, so I apologize for any errors I missed.  
> I've had the first few chapters written for a bit so I've finally worked up the nerve to post some to see if it's worth continuing with.  
> That being said, please feel free to provide feedback, and comments and kudos are super appreciated!

 

 

**Chapter 1: Workplace Harassment**

 

Nora aimed down the sight of her 10mm pistol, focused on the shooting range target in the basement of the Old North Church as she dispatched the cutout silhouette, ignoring the unwanted presence of the imposing, barrel-chested Railroad heavy behind her. Nora could feel his eyes appraising more than her shooting in a way that made her skin crawl.

Tommy Whisper was one of the only remaining heavies the Railroad had left after the Switchboard massacre, leaving them with Glory, Deacon, and the new addition of Nora.

Tommy had been a little too friendly with Nora when she joined as a tourist, too eager to show her the ropes. Nora had gently rebuffed his advances at every turn, but it was as if nothing would deter him, until Nora was promoted to heavy, it seemed. Tommy became harsh, snapping at Nora at every turn before leaving in a huff. He returned a month later seemingly back to his same lecherous self but seemed to be making a point to be condescending to Nora at the same time.

“Your aim would improve if you widen your stance.” Tommy Whisper said leaning in, attempting to help her re-position.

“Remember what I told you last time, Tommy?” Nora said calmly, but voice still dripping with enough venom Tommy Whisper took a small step back, though not out of Nora’s personal space.

“ _The next time you lay a hand on me without permission will be the last time you have hands_ , I know Charmer, but no funny business this time, honest.” He said raising his hands in acquiescence.

“I don’t think you have an honest bone in your body Whisper, keep your hands where I can see them.” Nora warned, unloading 3 more rounds between the imaginary eyes of the cutout, emptying the clip and stepping away from the range.

“I can think of one.” Whisper he rebuked crassly.

“Come on Whisper, we all know Charm here is the best shot this side of the Glowing Sea.” Deacon beamed, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. _Perfect timing as always Deacon_ , Nora thought.

Whisper retreated to an appropriate distance, glowering toward the other agent while muttering quietly about cock blocking.

“Flatterer” she grinned, shooting a knowing look through Deacon’s sunglasses.

“I have the higher courser count.” Tommy interjected, ego obviously wounded, “at least what I’m doing saves synths.”

“Feeling a little out shined by the new kid, Whisper?” Deacon baited.

Whisper pressed a confrontational finger to Deacon’s chest but before he was able to start his argument Desdemona approached the group of agents. She looked exasperated but ignored the conflict in favor of a drag of her cigarette, leaning on the sarcophagus in front of them.

“Agents” Desdemona started. “We should be taking advantage of having an extra heavy on our side by doing more reconnaissance. Deacon…” She nailed him with an authoritative glare. “I’m assigning you to do some recon on the Prydwen. There hasn’t been a lot of Brotherhood movement in a few weeks, we need to make sure their focus is on the Institute, not the Railroad. See what you can find.”

Deacon grimaced, “Oh come on Dez, you know I hate those itchy jumpsuits, and orange is so last season.” Desdemona rolled her eyes. “What was that Dez? _But Deacon, they flatter your figure so nicely.”_ He said in his best Desdemona impression. “Well Dez, when you put it that way…” already wandering over to Tinker Tom to stock up before he could be chastised.

“As for you two, Whisper I need you to look at clearing out the institute synths south of Ticonderoga. They’re getting a little too close for comfort. And Charmer, I want you to check in a Bunker Hill, see if there’s been any suspicion around our field agents.”

As soon as Whisper was out of earshot, Nora glared at the older woman. “Why do you put up with him as an agent? I know I’m not the first to make complaints about his… professionalism.” She scoffed in the direction he had stormed off.

Desdemona sighed “It’s hard to argue with his results. I’ll put up with his attitude if he can get the job done.  If it starts affecting his work, I’ll consider reeling him in.”

“You better hope I don’t teach him some manners before that.” Nora said, narrowing her eyes in warning before heading toward the front entrance of the Church, in hopes of avoiding another run in with Tommy.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

“What do you mean he hasn’t checked in?!” Nora exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the catacombs of the Railroad Headquarters.

“Calm down Charmer,” Desdemona chided. “It’s been two weeks, he was supposed to check in 2 days ago with a drop by the airport. He might have just lost track of time.”

“… Or he could be too busy hooking up to remember to do his job.” Tommy quipped, rolling his eyes from the corner of the large room.

Nora snapped from her pacing to march up to the larger agent, shoving him with both hands, though the effort didn’t budge him from his casual stance. “He’s twice the agent you’ll ever be Whisper, maybe if you stopped chasing skirts and get your head out of your ass you’ll – “

“That’s enough Charmer,” Desdemona snapped. Nora seethed turning to grab her pack, stuffing a few stimpacks and stealth boys into it before storming out of the under-croft.

“Where are you going?” Desdemona shouted after her.

Nora turned and nailed them both with a pointed glare that had Tinker Tom scurrying away from his nearby desk for fear of being caught in her cross-hairs. “I’m going to check on Deacon.”

“Nora you can’t, it’s only been two days, we need you here. If something did go wrong, we can’t spare another heavy.” Desdemona said, holding eye contact with Nora from across the dusty room.

“Something’s wrong ...and you know it. You can try and stop me.” Nora said slamming the door on her way out of the catacombs.


	2. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora goes rogue to find Deacon by sneaking aboard the Prydwen.

 

 

**Chapter 2: Rescue**

 

Nora was starting to get irritated with how Desdemona handled the Railroad. Freedom and fair treatment of synths was important to Nora, but it wouldn’t hurt their public relation to help a few humans or ghouls here and there. Lord knows Dez’ recruitment tapes were nothing short of grandstanding in eyes of the Commonwealth, but she outright refused Deacon’s suggestions to change it.

Dez’ unwavering leadership was one of the things that attracted her to joining the railroad in the first place, but it seemed the closer the battle with the institute became, the stauncher her leadership seemed. It reminded her of the cutthroat boss of the Law office Nora spent her articling year, both a necessary evil it seemed. 

Nora headed towards the Cambridge Police Station where she knew Danse and his recon team still annexed for the Brotherhood of Steel. She had assisted Danse in finding the deep range transmitter at Arcjet Systems early after she emerged from the vault, though she declined his invitation to join the Brotherhood. _Militaries are for wars; and look where that got me last time._ She’d told him cryptically. He simply nodded and assured her it remained an open invitation should she change her mind.

Upon her approach near the far side of the compound she dropped down to a crouch, opting for stealth instead of trying to charming her way onto the floating fortress as time was precious. She reached into her pack for a stealth boy, and turned the dial, covering her in a shimmering cloak of invisibility as she quickly slipped past the knights stationed on the front steps. She quietly snuck past Haylen working away at her terminal, and Rhys passed out on his sleeping bag, as if even a herd of yao guai would wake him, moving up toward the roof of the police station.

Once she reached the roof she snuck aboard the vertibird and wedged herself in the back corner away from the open sides of the aircraft before it lifted off toward the giant airship.

Just as the vertibird was touching down Nora slinked off and made a dash for the door to the main deck, slinking in behind a power armor-clad knight. She knew her stealth boy wouldn’t last much longer so she slipped into one of the vacant offices to the right, just in time for the cloaking device to flicker and power down.

A quick scan of the room revealed a footlocker at the end of a single bed. Opening it, she rifled through the contents in search of a Brotherhood-issued uniform to blend in with.  “Come on… bingo.” She whispered inwardly as she pulled out a set of field scribe’s armor. She quickly changed, leaving her blue vault suit on underneath, and tucked a scarf up around her face so she couldn’t be recognized.

“- Yes, Proctor Quinlan, right away.” A feminine voice came from the hallway, followed by with two sets of footsteps. As Nora made to walk out of the office she nearly collided with a tall, willowy man in glasses carrying a clipboard.

 He barely spared her a look before refocusing his attention to the clipboard. “-ah, Scribe, did you bring the technical documents?”

“Forgive me Proctor Quinlan, I forgot them on the vertibird, I’ll go grab them sir.” Nora tried not to let the nervousness bleed through the lie as she marched back out into the hallway without waiting for his response, though she had a feeling he still hadn’t looked up from his work.

Nora tried to walk with purpose as she scouted around the main deck but found no sign of Deacon. “This floating helium bomb must have a brig somewhere.” She muttered to herself. She descended the stairs to the bottom level of the main deck, stopping short of being noticed by a small group of soldiers drinking and playing cards.

“I still can’t believe someone snuck aboard the Prydwen, how is that even possible?” One soldier slurred. Nora’s eyes lit up in panic, worried Quinlan had seen through her disguise and put out a search for her.

“Yeah, I wonder what Maxson’s going to do with him.” Another soldier across the small common area replied. A small sense of relief washed over her that her cover hadn’t been blown, but new concern grew for Deacon’s safety.

“Well from what I heard, he hasn’t been talking, we don’t even know if he’s institute, railroad, or even Enclave for that matter.” Another soldier snorted.

“Enclave? Weren’t they all wiped out by that Wanderer and her Super Mutant pet in the Capital Wasteland?” The first soldier inquired skeptically.

“That’s exactly what they want you to think, no one knows how far they’re spread out, if there’s still factions out there. Just waiting, sending spies to get valuable intel on Brotherhood tech.” He said narrowing his eyes at the other.

“It was nice of Danse to lend his sleeping quarters to hold the prisoner. Wherever he’s spying for I don’t want him anywhere near _my_ sleeping quarters.” A young initiate chimed in.

“Afraid he’s going to switch you out with a synth in your sleep, Rogers?” laughed one of the knights, elbowing him.

The banter continued as Nora quietly retreated up the stairs, unnoticed by the other soldiers.

She made her way back to towards the stairs to the command deck as she hadn’t found any private quarters aside from Quinlan’s office on the main deck. She made a point to steer clear of the bridge and the observation deck, the areas that Lancer Captain Kells and Elder Maxson frequented based on the Railroad intel reports.

She came across two closed doors that appeared to be sleeping quarters. When the coast was clear she tested both handles and both were locked. She knew she wouldn’t have time to pick two locks before the knights came back around on patrol, when she remembered the code Deacon would use when they teamed up. A pre-war knock Valentine had told Deacon was called ‘shave-and-a-haircut’. Deacon loved old pre-war slang and idioms and tried to use them with Nora whenever he could. Though it usually seemed out of place, it comforted her knowing he was trying to make her feel at home.

Nora approached one of the doors, and tapped the five knocks on the door, waiting for the response.

_Knock knock_ , came from wall within the room.

“Bingo. Hang in their Dee.” Nora whispered against the door, removing a lockpick and working on the door with determination.

The familiar feeling of the last pin in the tumbler falling into place meant she was able to slip into the room unnoticed by the hallway patrols. A quick sweep of the room revealed Deacon handcuffed to a chair along the left wall looking roughed up and a little worse for wear. As relief washed over her, she ran over to him, crouching and fussing over him like a child with a scraped knee.

“Oh my gosh Dee, are you alright? Did they hurt you? How did you get caught?” Nora babbled as she started fidgeting and making quick work of the handcuffs.

Deacon winced as he rubbed his wrists once Nora had them both free of the cuffs. “Yeah I’m fine, and they tried, but it’s Brotherhood, they suck at interrogation. And I was fine until one of the Diamond City Security guards got recruited as an initiate and recognized me, didn’t even have time to slip out. Gotta say, not the brightest moment of my spy career.”

“Well, you can think of a better lie to tell HQ on the way back. Let’s get you out of here–“ Nora said standing them both up, Deacon on unsteady feet.

“–Before someone catches you?” A thundering voice came as Nora turned to the now blocked doorway.


	3. Barter

Nora had to crane her head up to look at the intimidating figure in front of her. Sporting a large overcoat and a large scar across his face that only added to his enormous figure, he dripped with authority that left Nora with no doubt in her mind that if they weren’t in shit before, they were now.

Nora almost took a step back as the man closed the door without breaking eye contact and taking a step closer to them, but thought better of it. He was probably used to people being intimidated by his sheer presence, but Nora grew up in a world full of intimidating men, and worked with the most intimidating of them all, so she squared her shoulders and shot a fiery glare that made him hesitate. _Good_ , she thought.

“Like I told your friend here, we don’t take kindly to strangers sticking their noses where they don’t belong.” He said folding his hands behind his back, as if by habit. “What brings you aboard my airship?”

“Airship?” Nora questioned sarcastically, “Man, did I take the wrong turn at Goodneighbor.”

“More sarcasm, delightful.” He said with a tick in his jaw making his irritation known.

“Well as much as I’d love to stay and regale you with my pleasant company we should be on our way.” Nora said dragging Deacon trying to squeeze past to the door, only to be blocked by an outstretched trunk of arm.

“Oh no, see, I haven’t finished my little chat with your friend here. I need to know who is trying to infiltrate the brotherhood so I know who to send a warning to when I’m done with him.” His eyes narrowed toward Deacon.

“Hey Maxson, like I said, just a nobody from Diamond City poking around.” Deacon said casting a charming smile towards him.

“I highly doubt that, it took a considerable amount of planning for you to get as far as you did, but we knew when we came to the Commonwealth we’d have enemies, enemies who would try to exploit weaknesses in our defenses.” Maxson said taking a sauntering step forward, causing Deacon to take a step back. Nora however squared her shoulders and glared at him in defiance of whatever authority he thought he had.

“We were curious, not every day a military airship stops in… I assume.” Nora said looking back at Deacon questioningly. Nora hadn’t been in the Commonwealth, or the year 2287, perhaps it was a regular occurrence.

“You assume?” Maxson inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

“I – I’m not from around here.” Nora said somehow managing nonchalance. “Wait – Maxson? As in Elder Maxson?”

“Elder Arthur Maxson, Leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, and last of the Maxson line.” He said standing at attention. “And you are?”

“Just passing through.” Nora said batting her eyelashes.

“You know, I’m really trying to negotiate boundaries with the local factions. Why don’t you just tell me who you’re with, and I’ll send one of you on your way, show of good faith on both sides.” Maxson turned and closed and locked the door to Danse’s quarters.

“Why not both?” Nora eyed him suspiciously.

“I’ll have some follow-up questions, and having a liaison may prove useful to our efforts.” Maxson stated crossing his arms.

“That’s a funny way to pronounce hostage.” Deacon scoffed.

“Liaison would mean contact with the faction in question, and the ability to come and go of our own volition. Is that correct?” Nora fell comfortably back into her lawyering role, as if her maternity leave and the past 200 years hadn’t happened.

“In time, yes.” Maxson said, giving nothing else away.

“And if we don’t comply?” She asked leaning against the wall opposite Arthur Maxson.

“Then I’ll have to result to some drastic measures to get information.” Maxson said throwing his hands down feigning defeat. “I don’t want to do that, as annoying as you’ve both been, you seem like decent people, but I need to protect _my_ people.” He lowered his head to make eye contact with Nora.

Nora’s eyes fell to her feet, considering the position he was in and what she would do. She looked at Deacon to her left and thought of her own people, and with that her mind was made up.

Nora took a deep breath and spoke. “We work for the Railroad.”

“Charmer I had him on the ropes, we could have managed –“ Deacon whispered harshly.

“To what? Escape? And start a war in the middle of our war with the Institute? I went rogue coming after you, they didn’t want to risk another heavy.” Nora reasoned back.

“I KNOW! I know… just, shit.” Deacon kicked the nearby desk in frustration. But sighed and grimaced at Nora in apology.

Arthur Maxson seemed astonished by the compliance, as well as the new information. “Well, thank you for your cooperation… Charmer.” Maxson said, brow furrowing at the name. “One of you will receive an escort via vertibird to a neutral territory of your choosing. Knight Reynolds and I will accompany you both to the flight deck.”

They walked in relative silence toward the flight deck, save for the constant whirring of the hovering fortress, and the clunking steps of the Brotherhood Knight behind them. Nora tried to focus on how she was going to talk Deacon into returning to headquarters. She refused to show up empty handed to Dez, and she could already see the smug face on Tommy Whisper when he found out she blew their cover to the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel himself.

They came to a stop in front of the same vertibird launch bay Nora had snuck off of, which had her wondering how long she had actually remained undetected on her little rescue mission. She hazarded a glance to Elder Maxson only to catch his eyes darting away from hers as he cleared his throat.

“Where would you like to be dropped off?” Maxson inquired, eyes shifting from one spy to the other, still unknowing which would remain.

“Diamond City. She’ll go to Diamond City.” Deacon declared.

“Deacon – “ Nora started to argue.

“Listen, the Railroad wasn’t making a lot of headway, they need you. They need you to make a difference. They may not know it, but they can’t stand to lose you.” Deacon said, holding both her shoulders at arms’ length.

Nora let Deacon guide her onto the vertibird and hugged him tightly. She leaned in and whispered to him as the engines warmed up, “Tell Dez I’ll be by when they let me off on good behavior.”

“Wait, wha – “ Deacon questioned, but Nora had already hopped off the vertibird and back onto the Prydwen deck, and smiled sadly to him as the small aircraft disembarked.

Nora turned, trying to ignore Deacon shouts growing quieter, and looked to Elder Maxson who seemed astonished by what had transpired. From the look of it, it appeared Maxson was not caught off guard often.

Confused, he met her gaze as she collected her resolve. “You took his place.”

“He’s my friend, wouldn’t you?” She shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I'm going to try to be more consistent with uploads, but I'm just hoping someone's enjoying it so far. Thanks for sticking with me so far!


End file.
